


Braids

by Eastofthemoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Humor, Post-Season/Series 06, Romantic Fluff, potential crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 16:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/pseuds/Eastofthemoon
Summary: Keith needs help brushing his wolf's fur while Allura makes a few observations about him.





	Braids

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Voltron Rare Pair Flash Bang and the lovely art here was done by Kobirex and you can see more of their art here: https://kobirex.tumblr.com/

“Allura, do you have an extra brush you don’t care about?”

Allura paused and tilted her head curiously up toward Keith. “Uh, no, not currently.”

Keith sighed as his wolf continued to poke his nose into his side. “I had a feeling that would be your answer.”

Allura raised an eyebrow as the mice climbed into her lap, chittering cheerfully. “Were you not able to grab a brush before we evacuated the castle?”

The request was unexpected, given that the escape had been several days ago. Humans seemed required to brush their hair at least once a day. It was odd Keith would only ask about it now, especially with how long his hair had grown.

“It’s not for me,” Keith said as he sat down next to her, “it’s for him.”

The wolf barked and wagged his tail excitedly.

“Oh, is his fur tangled?” Allura said as Chulatt and Platt decided to climb up the wolf’s back.

She had been afraid the creature would try to eat her tiny friends, but instead he seemed very tolerant of them. Part of Allura wondered if the cosmic wolf liked being climbed.

Keith shook his head. “No, oddly his fur doesn’t seem to get tangled.”

Allura leaned back against the tree. “Then why-”

“It’s Lance’s fault,” Keith said with a pout. “He saw him give Kaltenecker a brushing and now he wants one too.”

The wolf whined as he laid his head into Keith’s lap, looking up with longing eyes. It took everything Allura had not to giggle, especially when the mice decided to join in the staring.

“I see,” Allura said as she reached into her travel bag. Most of her belongings were still packed in the Blue Lion, but she had collected a few small items for daily use. “I do have something you could use.”

Keith looked up intrigued, but frowned as Allura revealed her hairbrush.

“That’s yours, though, I can’t take that,” Keith said as he waved a hand. “I wouldn’t feel right getting wolf hair all over it.”

“You won’t,” Allura said as she hit a button, causing the bristles to suddenly retract. “See, it makes it easy to remove hair.” She hit the button again, causing the bristles to reappear. “I use it to brush the mice’s fur all the time.”

To emphasize her point, all of the mice struck a pose as if to show off their shiny fur.

Keith still looked hesitant, but after the wolf gave a whine he sighed and held out his hand. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Absolutely,” Allura said as she handed it over, “you can use it to brush your own hair too if need be. Just let me know whenever you need it.” 

“I can do that,” Keith replied.

The wolf gave a happy bark before spinning around and presenting his back to Keith. Allura quietly watched as Keith began to brush, eliciting a pleased growl from the wolf.

“He seems to like it,” Allura said as Plachu climbed up to her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Keith said with a small smile as he paused to pat the wolf’s head. “Good boy.” He then stopped to remove the fur off the brush, but as he moved to drop it onto the ground, the mice squeaked loudly at him.

Keith looked at them and frowned. “What? Don’t want me littering?”

Allura listed to their chatter and smiled. “No, they wish to keep it,” she translated. “They like the feel of the wolf’s fur and believe they could use it to make a nest.”

“Oh,” Keith said as he handed the fur over to Chuchule. “Just don’t make a mess with it, okay?”

Chuchule squeaked before she suddenly scampered away with the other mice not hesitating to follow. The wolf whined until Keith returned to brushing him. “I’m not doing this all night you know,” he told him.

Allura laughed as she glanced up to the night sky. They had to get up early to travel and therefore she should sleep soon, but she loved watching the stars. She found herself glancing over to Keith and found herself musing over on how much he’d grown.

He also seemed more comfortable with everyone since he returned. Keith was still quiet, and didn’t goof around as much as the others, but his body language was more relaxed.

_I suppose those two years with his mother really helped him,_ Allura thought.

Then there was Keith’s appearance in general. He was so much taller now, and so much bigger. She felt bad they couldn’t heal that burn mark on his cheek, but at least it wasn’t ghastly looking. Keith’s hair had gotten so much longer too, and frankly it was rather attractive.

Allura froze at the last thought. _Attractive? Why am I thinking about this? Keith’s always been good looking despite those ugly ears. His growth spurt just amplified everything._

Allura paused as she hugged herself. _No, I should stop. I shouldn’t be thinking this way about one of my friends, especially after...Lotor._

Allura scowled. She still blamed herself for letting Lotor use her like that. Even if his feelings were as sincere as he claimed, what he did to her people was unforgivable. Allura didn’t think she could ever hold romantic feelings for anyone else for a long time. 

The wolf seemed satisfied as he finally yawned and rolled onto his back. Keith sighed in defeat. “Oh sure, ruin all my hard work.” He smiled and petted the wolf’s head. “Glad it made you happy, buddy.”

Allura’s eyes softened. _Keith does have a nice smile._

Keith looked to Allura and frowned. “Something wrong?”

Allura blushed and forced a smile. “Oh..uh I was just admiring how much longer your hair had gotten?” She sweated. 

_That was so stupid! Why did I say that?!_

Keith didn’t show any offense as he tugged at his hair. “Yeah, but I've been wondering if I should cut it.”

Allura tossed her thoughts aside as she reached out to finger his hair. “Don’t you like it long?”

“I do,” Keith said with a wince, “but the extra tangles are becoming a pain.”

Allura nodded as she scooted closer. “Would you like me to braid it for you? That might help.” She reached into her bag. “I do have some hair ties with me.”

Keith narrowed his eyes like he was debating, but then gave a slow nod. “That would be great, if you don’t mind.”

Allura smiled as she took her brush, retracted the bristles to remove the wolf hair and began to brush. Keith’s hair was quite soft and fine. She briefly wondered if it was typical for human hair or if it was his Galra side that caused it.

They sat in silence as she brushed until she stopped and began to braid. “You must be happy we are finally going to Earth.”

Keith glanced back. “Yeah, I know my mom is eager to see it again too. She said she always considered it her home.”

Allura smiled warmly as she gently poked Keith’s head forward as she continued braiding. “Where did you live, Keith? It must have been nice for your mother to love it so.”

Keith gave a laugh. “It was out in the desert, it really wasn’t anything that impressive. My dad was a firefighter and his job was putting out bushfires.”

“He must have been a brave man to do that,” Allura commented as she finished the braid and reached for a hair tie.

Keith went quiet. “He was and he taught me a lot as a kid. We didn’t have a lot of money, but I loved our place. It was safe, quiet...it was-”

“It was home, I understand,” Allura said as she finished the tie. “And I’m done.”

Keith reached back to finger the braid and smile. “Thanks, Allura. This should help.”

“No problem, and I don’t mind doing it again in the future. It’s...relaxing.” She looked Keith over with the braid now dangling over his shoulder. It suited him quite well.

It reminded Allura briefly of Altean nobles dressing up for a castle gala, a thought crossing her mind that she should have rescued one of her father’s old robes. _Keith would look quite handsome in it...no, stop that! I am not having this discussion!_

“Hey, Allura,” Keith said as he broke her chain of thought.

Allura coughed and smiled. “Yes.”

He chewed his bottom lip. “The others will have way better places to show you on Earth, but..I could show you my old home if you want.”

Allura gave a little smile. “I would like that.” She leaned against his shoulder. “Perhaps tomorrow you should brush my hair.”.

Keith laughed. “I can try, but I can’t promise I’ll do a good job.”

Allura shut her eyes. “I’m certain you’ll do just fine.”

Keith said nothing, but as he rested his head against hers, Allura felt he'd given more than enough of a response.


End file.
